for his own crimes
by inkblot-dreams
Summary: Series of oneshots set in an AU...Tamaki and the Host Club are all members of a secret organization protecting Japan. Everything was great...until Tamaki met one Haruhi Fujioka.
1. for his own crimes

Tamaki sprinted through the deserted street, raindrops pelting his face, already soaking through his uniform.

_Damn, this is NOT what I signed up for when I joined H.O.S.T._

He stopped running, dead end.

"_Tamaki. Have you located her yet?" _The radio crackled in his ears.

"Dammit! I can't see a thing in this storm. You sure they went this way?" Silently cursing himself for letting Haruhi get captured, Tamaki discarded his dripping uniform jacket in a sodden heap of fine cotton and a puddle of blood. He didn't need to touch the crimson bandages wound around his gut to know the thirty-centimetre gash across his spine was bleeding again. After all, he'd put the wound there himself.

"_She has to be somewhere in this vicinity…wait, I'm picking up my brother's tracking signal about three metres ahead of your current location."_

"Thanks Kaoru, Keep me posted if anything changes."

"_You got it…but I'm only picking up Hikaru's tracking signal. Kyouya and Mori might not be there, but they probably are and have blockers up. Be careful…"_

Static…

_Damn, the rain's finally got through to my radio._

Tamaki swore beneath his breath and cautiously approached the small wooden house directly ahead of him. According to Kaoru's intelligence, Hikaru should be alone in this house with Haruhi. Except that Hikaru never worked alone. His combat abilities were too low. Which probably meant hat Mori, Kyouya, or both, were waiting inside there with him. And while cutting the augment out of his back had allowed Tamaki to escape untraced, is also meant that he wouldn't be able to sense the other H.O.S.T. members' presence. Even when they dropped their blockers to attack.

His H.O.S.T. training started calculating possible outcomes and break-in routes…_the windows were probably booby-trapped…he could try to break through the roof but whoever was inside would definitely hear him…and although the front door would obviously be guarded, with Tamaki's reflexes he could probably dodge the first attack and force the other person into a standoff, that is, if whoever was behind the door had stupidly dropped his gun like Tamaki had when he escaped._

The cold press of steel against his neck confirmed to Tamaki that his opponent was most definitely armed.

"I'm impressed you would go to such lengths to escape from us Suoh. Wound on your back looks painful."

Tamaki was about to launch himself into a flying spin-kick to disarm his opponent when the other H.O.S.T. member pressed a second steel object against his back, sending jolt of pain up his already-injured spine.

"I wouldn't try anything hasty if I were you."

Tamaki grit his teeth against the pain.

"Mori you bastard! Why don't you face me like a MAN! What would Hani say if he knew you had resorted to such cheap tricks." He spat the words towards the ground.

"Master Haninozuka will never know. The matter with this Fujioka girl will be settled long before he returns from his mission in Germany."

Mori roughly shoved the blonde through the door into the house. The last thing he saw was a trademarked, "Hitachin brand" designed tennis shoe before the pistol butt came down hard on the back of his head.

* * *

Tamaki woke to a biting tightness around his wrists and ankles, and a sight that took his breath away. Haruhi sat tied to a folding metal chair, gagged, blindfolded, and with headphones over her ears. He traced the line of the headphone cord and saw that is also looped around her neck a couple times and bound her to the chair. She appeared to be sitting cross-legged.

"Isn't it great?" Tamaki heard the all-too-familiar voice call out from the shadows. The same voice that had tortured him every day in his cell before he'd managed to steal a knife and escape.

"This way, it's like there isn't even a storm outside. She can't see the lightning…" The voice's owner, Hikaru Hitachin, stepped out from behind Tamaki and gestured at Haruhi's blindfold like it was a prized circus act.

"She can't hear the thunder…" He poked carelessly at one of the earphones, pitching Haruhi's neck dangerously far to the left and sending her head lolling.

"And best of all…she can't scream in terror!" He punched ruthlessly at her gut, causing Haruhi to keel over and moan pitifully into the rough gag.

Tamaki tried to turn his face away to hide the tears that came unbidden to his eyes, but the manic Hitachin kneed him savagely in the back, forcing his head upright and reminding him all-too-soon of the wound along his spine.

"But don't you worry…" The circus showman act resumed, "your precious little Haru-birdie is still in EXCELLENT health….well, mostly." He leaned over Tamaki's face and grinned.

"I think we might have broken her legs on the way over though…doesn't really matter…I think she looks MUCH cuter this way."

Unable to look away while Hikaru held his head firmly by the golden locks, Tamaki was forced to notice that although Haruhi appeared to be sitting comfortably, her knees were both bent at severe, unnatural, angles." Hikaru chuckled.

"You Bastard! You cocksucking leech-fag bastard! I'll kill you! I swear after I get Haruhi out of here, I'll fucking KILL YOU! I'll…"

Tamaki was cut off by Hikaru smashing his face violently against the floor. He felt his nose snap sideways.

"NOBODY…talks to me like that. Especially not an ungrateful maggot like you….No! Even maggots turn into flies and grow wings. No, you're not even a maggot, you're just an earthworm. Ha! A worm!"

Hikaru laughed hysterically, all the while bouncing Tamaki's head against the hardwood floor.

Finally growing bored he got up off Tamaki, allowing the taller man to curl into some pitiful semblance of a protective crouch.

"Aww…look, you've gotten blood all over one of my favourite pairs of slacks…my FAVOURITE. My brother gave these to me…before you seduced him and took him from us." The last 'us' punctuated by a glob of spit hurled quite accurately at Tamaki's face.

"Kaoru joined me willingly once I revealed to him what a monster you'd become."

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Hikaru took the iron baton from his belt and began beating it across Tamaki's back, leaving deep-red welts and adding to the constellation of bruises.

"You took my brother away from me you worm. I don't know how you did it, but I want him back. I'M the only one allowed to make Kaoru feel good. Kaoru is MINE…MINE! MINE! MINE!"

"Enough!" The icy command froze Hikaru in mid-strike. "Who told you to abuse our guests this way? Untie them at once!"

Hikaru cowered meekly and hastily untied Tamaki's bonds.

"I really am quite sorry for Hikaru's actions. He's just been a little shaken up recently. Kaoru's betrayal has been particularly hard on the poor boy."

Tamaki didn't need to feel the familiar hands against his back to recognise this frigid demeanour. Kyouya knelt beside him and whispered in his ear,

"You see, he loved Kaoru and…he just can't understand how someone he loved so much could do something so cruel."

Hikaru removed the blindfold, gag, and headphones from Haruhi's face.

"Get Out!" Kyouya shouted almost angrily. The sudden volume rang tinny in Tamaki's ears. He whispered again,

"I just don't understand how the man I loved could betray me."

"Tamaki? Is that you? Tamaki what's going on? I can't feel my legs anymore Tamaki…Tamaki?"

Tamaki looked up and saw the bruises all along Haruhi's delicate neck. The same neck he'd showered kisses along not two weeks ago. He saw her normally soft, pink, lips all cracked and swollen and bloodied. He could still remember the taste of her against his mouth, the feeling of her tongue as it danced against his own. He saw the painful angles of her legs, the way they bent the wrong way just below her knees. He saw his lover. He saw the terror in her eyes. And he knew it was entirely his fault.

"Like I was saying, I really must apologize for how Hikaru treated you two in my absence. I assure you that whatever he did to you…I will do a hundred times worse.

"You must understand…this mission is very important to me. I can't afford any liabilities. And ever since you met this Fujioka you've become nothing more than a liability to us all. I had honestly hoped you would spend you days in detention reflecting on your actions but…I never thought you would so far as to cut out your augment to escape.

"I guess it's time to cut my losses and move on.

"I promise to make H.O.S.T. into a great organization. Even if I have to do it without you by my side." He stroked wistfully at Tamaki's hair.

"Morinozuka. Kill Ms. Fujioka and escort Major Suoh back to his cell."

"Yes sir."

Mori unholstered his pistol and strode the two metres between him and Haruhi in three great strides. Kyouya waved the gun aside and motioned to the katana hanging at Mori's side.

"I'm returning to base ahead of you…make it messy…and make sure Tamaki gets a good eyeful of his own little private show."

Tamaki attempted to lunge at Kyouya but instead met the impact of the commander's shoe into his stomach. He strode over to Tamaki's doubled-over body and gave one last, longing, caress across Tamaki's battered face before leaving the three of them, two H.O.S.T. members and a broken girl, alone in the room.

"I'm sorry Tamaki. I didn't want things to end this way." The katana's killing edge glinted menacingly in the filtered moonlight through the windows.

"I guess my life was over the minute I turned against Kyouya. I know nobody ever comes out of Kyouya's 'special' interrogation alive. Do what you must, just please…don't make me watch. I beg of you to grant me this one last request."

Mori said nothing as Tamaki turned to face his back towards the impending carnage. He didn't hear the slash, but he felt the warm spattering of blood against his skin as he choked out barely a whisper.

"Haruhi…I love you."

Finally, Tamaki heard the dull thump of flesh striking against the wooden floor. He tried to scream his agony, to cry bitter tears of anguish. But no sound would come to his lips, and no tears would cool his burning cheeks.

He heard the heavy footsteps as his captor came for him. This time, to put him in a cell he was sure he would never escape.

"I'm sorry Tamaki; this is the best I can do for you. Please tell master Haninozuka that I have shamed him today."

"Wha…" Confused, Tamaki whirled around to ask Mori what he meant, but Mori was gone.

All strength sapped from his limbs, Tamaki crawled over to where Haruhi lay lifeless on the floor. She had a dozen cuts across her body, and her own blood pooled rapidly on the floor. He cradled her gently in his arms. She had gotten so thin in the week he spent as Kyouya's prisoner. So thin and frail. Tamaki cradled her in his arms and cried.


	2. standard operating procedures

Kyouya jogged casually through the operation staging area, stopping in front of a small café full of people.

_**This is Shadow-Two to all units. So far so good. Target has entered sector 9. Moving to phase two.**_Kaoru's disembodied voice sounded clearly inside his head through the general psychocast, then quieter, privately,

_**Everything seems to be playing out exactly as you predicted.**_

_Of course it is. _Kyouya thought, but didn't broadcast, _who do you think arranged for details about the upcoming H.O.S.T. executive meeting to be "leaked" to the appropriate informants._

_**I assure you Kaoru that my predictions were merely based on interpreting the most reliable data as accurately as possibly. The success of this mission will depend entirely on our ability to coordinate our movements.**_

_It also helps to have a mole in the upper-echelons of an enemy organization._

_**Shadow-Two, target confirmed moving to point A-7. Strike team prepare to intercept.**_Despite having been born into one of the ruling families of H.O.S.T., and having taken an active role in missions ever since he was fifteen, Kyouya still found telepathic disconcerting. Perhaps he'd spent too much time swapping test answers with Kaoru in school, but he always felt like the younger Hitachin was reading his thoughst. Especially at those times he wished his thoughts entirely to himself.

_**This is Shadow-One; keep a lookout for more assassins. Purple Casanova informs me there is a high probability there being a second strike team.**_

_**This is sweeper team. We've completed evacuation and search of all the surrounding buildings. We've detained two suspicious individuals and are presently interrogating them.**_

_Two people…not nearly enough for a strike team. Could Casanova's intelligence possibly be wrong? This would be the first time his information has been inaccurate._

_**This is Strike Team. The white rabbit is inside the cage. Six persons captured, five armed.**_

A part of Kyouya's mind praised their good fortune. Even using psychic disruptors, members of the White Rabbits rarely ever gave up so easily. The rest of his mind immediately jumped upon the strangeness, and danger, of their situation. He felt the surge of electricity as he triggered his augment and felt a brief out-of-body experience as his synapses fired into overdrive.

_**This is Strike-Three; one of the rabbits won't stop babbling something about clocks and teatime.**_

Kyouya's hypersensitive brain started deciphering the ramifications of a coded message from the White Rabbits…

_Shit!_

_**This is Shadow-One. Corporal Yamizawa, tell Captain Morinozuka to grab onto that rabbit and stand by for psychic transfer.**_

_**Strike-Two here…Roger. **_Kyouya concentrated on the deep-bass tones of Mori's voice.

The world flashed white momentarily as he initiated the link. Then he was seeing through the eyes of the strike team leader. Hearing through his ears.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! It's half-past-seven and the tea party's started." He saw an image of a clock. "All the guests have arrived and the Strawberry's here." A radioactive warning. "The mouse is stuck in a hole with three pieces of cheese. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Kyouya severed the mental link and started mentally shouting.

_**This is Shadow-One. All units abort! I repeat all units abort and evacuate! The White Rabbits have armed a nuclear device inside the café. Kaoru! Cut the projection and evacuate immediately!**_

He brought up a small time display in the corner of his vision.

12:22pm

_Damn! I've only got eight minutes before this thing blows. What are those rabbits thinking? Detonating a nuke in the middle of the city is suicide. If we didn't already have containment fields up because of the operation this would be a catastrophe._

_**Shadow-Two, terminating projection. **_Kaoru's voice sounded again and the façade of people in the small café blinked out. All but one.

_**Damn you people! I said evacuate. Why is there still a watcher inside?**_

_**This is Shadow-Two again…all operatives have been successfully extracted.**_

_**Kaoru…are you sure? I can still see someone inside the café. **_Kyouya didn't need his enhanced intelligence to realise the situation was bad. Very bad.

12:26

_**Positive. We never had anybody inside the store to begin with.**_

_**Dammit! Why is there a civilian inside my staging area?**_

_**What?**_

Kyouya ran inside the shop…12:28…He immediately spotted the tall blonde sitting bewildered by the window.

"You there! Hold still." He grabbed the misplaced man and locked him in a bear-hug.

_**Shadow-Two! Prep for physical transfer. Double incoming…**_

12:29…Kyouya inhaled deeply, and thought about roses.

_**NOW!**_

The world blinked blue.

* * *

He opened his eyes and stared at Kaoru's face looking down at him.

"You lucky…" his last words were drowned by the muted roar of the explosion.

"Looks like I made it out just in time." Kyouya smiled and passed out. Kaoru sighed in relief.


	3. polaroids and princesses

"Did you see the new guy yet?" The noisy trio of girls walking through the H.O.S.T. training facility and headquarters were impossible to ignore.

"You mean that French guy Shadow-One rescued? I saw a glimpse of him earlier. He's pretty cute." The tallest of the three rummaged through the stack of papers she was carrying, retrieving a small Polaroid. "Look, I snapped a picture."

"Eww…you're still using that old Polaroid? Why don't you get a digital camera already." The smallest girl jumped around excitedly, snatching the photograph. "Ouu…very pretty. I heard Master Ootori teleported him out of an exploding coffee-shop!"

"Actually, he teleported right BEFORE the shop exploded."

"Well it doesn't really matter…Shadow-One is soooo cool." The hyperactive girl started flailing her arms in excitement. "Kyaa! I want to go on a mission with him."

The other two laughed.

"With YOUR abilities, I'll be surprised if they even give you an augment, let alone assign you to third-division."

"Meanie! I'll get stronger. I'll show you!"

"More importantly," the third girl finally spoke up, "did you know 'that French guy' is actually a Suoh?"

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"As expected of a future intelligence officer…your information network is impressive."

"How is that even POSSIBLE? The Suoh family is the current leader of H.O.S.T. Every member is practically born a H.O.S.T. member."

"Our vertically-challenged colleague has a point. How could a member of the Suoh family carelessly get caught up in a H.O.S.T. operation?"

"HEY! Don't make fun of me just 'cause you're so abnormally tall." It wouldn't be inaccurate to compare this girl to a cherry tomato at this point.

"According to my sources, he is the son of the director himself."

"WHAT?" Both girls exclaimed.

"Let me assure you that nothing is wrong with your hearing. It seems the director had an illegitimate child with a French woman some time ago. The Suoh family has been keeping his existence a secret until now."

"Then how did he end up in that café?"

"It seems he got word that the H.O.S.T. executive meeting would be held in that café. Apparently, he was waiting to approach his father after the meeting."

"So what's going to happen to him now?"

"I do not know. He should be in the director's office now. Since he has been exposed to H.O.S.T. secrets, they can't just let him go."

"Look! There he is!"

"He's with Strike-Two…" Tall.

"…and Shadow-One…" Short.

"…and he's wearing a H.O.S.T. uniform." Informed.

"Kyaa!" All three squealed at once.

"Good morning ladies."

"Good morning master Ootori. Good morning master Morinozuka." The trio glowed in excitement.

"I don't believe you've met the newest member of third-division yet. This is Tamaki Suoh."

"It's a pleasure to meet you master Suoh."

"Believe me ladies, the pleasure is entirely mine. I was beginning to worry that H.O.S.T. was made up entirely of boring men like Kyouya and Mori. The sight of such beautiful princesses is a balm to my sore eyes." Kyouya glared fiercely at Tamaki.

"Kyaa!"


End file.
